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E

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Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:AboutTemplate:Pp-move-indef Template:Technical reasons Template:Use mdy dates Template:Pp-semi-vandalism Template:Pp-move Template:Infobox grapheme Template:Latin letter info

E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is e (pronounced Template:IPAc-en); plural es, Es, or E's.<ref>Template:Cite dictionary</ref>

It is the most commonly used letter in many languages, including Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Latin, Latvian, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish.<ref name="Brian Kelk">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

NameEdit

In English, the name of the letter is the "long E" sound, pronounced Template:IPAc-en. In most other languages, its name matches the letter's pronunciation in open syllables.

File:Pronunciation of the name of the letter ⟨e⟩ in European languages.png
Pronunciation of the name of the letter Template:Angbr in European languages

HistoryEdit

Egyptian hieroglyph
qʼ 		Proto-Sinaitic Proto-Canaanite hillul Phoenician
He 		Western Greek
Epsilon 		Etruscan
E 		Latin
E
<hiero>A28</hiero> File:Proto-semiticE-01.svg File:Protohe.svg File:PhoenicianE-01.svg File:Greek Epsilon archaic.svg File:Alfabeto camuno-e.svg Latin E

The Latin letter 'E' differs little from its source, the Greek letter epsilon, 'Ε'. This in turn comes from the Semitic letter hê, which has been suggested to have started as a praying or calling human figure (hillul, 'jubilation'), and was most likely based on a similar Egyptian hieroglyph that indicated a different pronunciation.

In Semitic, the letter represented {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in foreign words); in Greek, hê became the letter epsilon, used to represent {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. The various forms of the Old Italic script and the Latin alphabet followed this usage.

Use in writing systemsEdit

Pronunciation of Template:Angbr by language
Orthography Phonemes
Template:Nwr (Pinyin) Template:IPAslink
English Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
French Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink
German Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink
Italian Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink
Portuguese Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
Spanish Template:IPAslink
Turkish Template:IPAslink

EnglishEdit

Although Middle English spelling used Template:Angbr to represent long and short Template:IPAslink, the Great Vowel Shift changed long {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (as in me or bee) to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} while short Template:IPAslink (as in met or bed) remained a mid vowel. In unstressed syllables, this letter is usually pronounced either as Template:IPAslink or Template:IPAslink. In other cases, the letter is silent, generally at the end of words like queue.

Other languagesEdit

In the orthography of many languages, it represents either Template:IPAblink, Template:IPAblink, Template:IPAblink, or some variation (such as a nasalized version) of these sounds, often with diacritics (as: Template:Angbr) to indicate contrasts. Less commonly, as in French, German, or Saanich, Template:Angbr represents a mid-central vowel {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Digraphs with Template:Angbr are common to indicate either diphthongs or monophthongs, such as Template:Angbr or Template:Angbr for {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in English, Template:Angbr for {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in German, and Template:Angbr for {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in French or {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in German.

Other systemsEdit

The International Phonetic Alphabet uses Template:Angbr IPA for the close-mid front unrounded vowel or the mid front unrounded vowel.

FrequencyEdit

E is the most common (or highest-frequency) letter in the English language alphabet and several other European languages,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> which has implications in both cryptography and data compression. This makes it a harder letter to use when writing lipograms.

Other usesEdit

Template:Main article

File:Avogadro's number in e notation.jpg
A scientific calculator display showing the Avogadro constant (Template:Val) in E notation
  • In the hexadecimal (base 16) numbering system, "E" corresponds to the number 14 in decimal (base 10) counting.
  • "e" is also commonly used to denote Euler's number.

Related charactersEdit

Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabetEdit

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  • Teuthonista phonetic transcription system symbols related to E:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Ancestors and siblings in other alphabetsEdit

Derived signs, symbols and abbreviationsEdit

Other representationsEdit

Computing Edit

Template:Charmap

OtherEdit

Template:Letter other reps In British Sign Language (BSL), the letter 'e' is signed by extending the index finger of the right hand touching the tip of index on the left hand, with all fingers of left hand open.

See alsoEdit

NotesEdit

Template:Notelist

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

External linksEdit

Template:Latin script

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